You may have seen Sebastien’s quick tutorial explaining how to change your Mac computer’s name so you can recognize it easily when using AirDrop, or simply when looking for it on the local network.

It’s a little known fact that you can just as easily change the name of your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. Choosing a custom name for your device helps keep it distinguishable from other devices you may own in iTunes and when using services like Find My iPhone.

Obviously, this is a tutorial for beginners as power users are probably aware how to do this. Regardless of your level of expertise, this how-to serves as a nice reminder to check and maybe choose a proper name for your device other than the default name iOS assigns to it after a restore or on first use…

How to change the name of your iPhone or iPad

Step 1: Launch the Settings app on your device and navigate to General > About.

Step 2: As pictured below, the Name section at the very top should display the current name of your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. Tap it to set a custom name for your device.

Step 3: Use the on-screen keyboard to give the device a new name. Hit Done when finished. In the example below, I renamed my iPhone 5s from the default “Christan’s iPhone” name to the more descriptive “Chris – iPhone 5s”.

That’s all there is to it!

The new custom name for your device should be listed under the Name line in Settings > General > About.

How to change your device name using iTunes

Step 1: Launch iTunes on your Mac or Windows PC and connect your device to the computer using a USB cable. If you’re using the Wi-Fi Sync feature, make sure that both your computer and an iOS device are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.

Step 2: Click the Device button in the upper left corner of the iTunes window. If you have several devices connected, choose an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch you want to rename.

Step 3: In the sidebar that appeared, double-click the name of your iOS device, right next to its picture in iTunes. Type the new name for it and press Return on the keyboard.

That’s it — no need to sync manually as iTunes will rename your device on-the-fly.

Again, device name is used to denote your hardware in iTunes, as well as help distinguish it inside Find My iPhone iOS app and in the service’s web interface on iCloud, as illustrated below.

Unfortunately, AirDrop in iOS/macOS uses your Apple ID’s first name rather than device name, which would have been more logical and a lot clearer if you ask me.

Anyway, if you like this quick tip, chime in down in the comments. Also, don’t forget to send us your own submissions to tips@iDownloadBlog.com as we may include the most useful tricks in future how-tos.